Coin display holder



Aug. 29, 1961 P. w. JENKINS com DISPLAY HOLDER Filed July 11, 1960 INVENTOR.

@ PauL WJamM/ns W$J W ATTORNEYS United States Pat ent 2,998,126 COIN DISPLAY HOLDER Paul W. Jenkins, 3136 Dellwood Ave. N.W., Canton, Ohio Filed July 11, 1960, Set. No. 42,099 Claims. (Cl. 206.83)

This application pertains to coin holders. More particularly it pertains to a coin holder for mounting coins issued in sets, such as by the mint of the United States Government which sets of coins, being uncirculated, are encased in polyethylene coated cellophane packages with each coin denomination sealed in a separate pocket.

"Coin holders of various types have been known and used by persons who make coin collecting a hobby. The true coin collector is more interested in mounting his coins in a manner which can be readily displayed to other persons, than in simply accumulating coins and storing them in a safe place without mounting the coins in coin holders for convenient viewing.

Associated with the foregoing is the desirability on the part of coin collectors of mounting sets of coins in rigid coin holders without removing the coins from the plastic packages as issued by the mint. It is felt by many coin collectors that the mint packaged sets have a preferred collectors value because the package is sealed and therefore denotes an indicium of authenticity which the coins lose upon their removal from the package. As a result, a need has arisen for rigid coin holder adapted to mount the coins in the package as issued by the mint.

Heretofore a coin holder for mounting sets of coins in their original cellophane packages has not existed. Prior coin holders have included laminated sheets with coinreceiving openings equal to the size of a coin. Thus coins mounted in the cellophane containers of any kind would not be mounted in existing holders because the coin-receiving openings are too small.

Another reason for keeping the coins in their mint cellophane package is that the package being sealed excludes air from the coins and therefore prevents the coins from becoming tarnished and losing their original new appearance.

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a coin holder which is adapted to accommodate sets of coins mounted in mint sealed packages.

It is another object of this invention to provide a coin holder composed of separable sheets of rigid plastic material for containing polyethylene coated cellophane packages in which sets of coins are issued by the Government Mint.

It is another object of this invention to provide a plastic coin holder in which mint packaged sets of coins may be mounted for display purposes by coin collectors without removing the coins from their sealed packages and thereby preserving the coins against tarnishing.

Finally, it is an object of this invention to provide an improved coin holder by which the foregoing objects and desiderata are obtained in a simple, effective and inexpensive manner.

These and other objects and advantages apparent to those skilled in the art from the following description and claims may be obtained, the stated results achieved, and the described difiiculties overcome by the discoveries, principles, apparatus, parts, elements, combinations, and subcombinations which comprise the present invention, the nature of which is set forth in the following general statement, a preferred embodiment of whichillustrative of the best mode in which applicant has contemplated applying the principles-is set forth in the following description and shown in the drawings, and which is par- 2,998,126 Patented Aug. 29, 1961 ticularly and distinctly pointed out and set forth in the appended claims forming part hereof.

The nature of the improvements in the coin holder of the present invention may be stated in general terms as including a pair of outer sheets composed of rigid transparent plastic material, a pair of inner coin mounting sheets between the outer sheets, the inner sheets having spaced coin-receiving openings, the coins being contained in a sealed plastic package mounted between the inner sheets, the outer sheets having a peripheral flange containing the inner sheets, and means for securing the coin holder together.

The preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view, partly broken away, showing a coin holder having a set of mint packaged coins contained therein;

FIG. 2 is an exploded view showing the several parts of the coin holder; and

FIG. 3 is a transverse sectional view taken on the line 33 of FIG. 1.

Similar numerals refer to similar parts throughout the several views of the drawing.

As shown in the drawings, a package of coins 1 is mounted within a coin holder generally indicated at 2. The holder 2 is a laminated member and includes a pair of outer sheets 3 and 4 of transparent material, inner sheets 5 and 6, and means for holding the sheets 3-6 together including nuts 7 and bolts 8.

The package 1 of coins is representative of a set of coins issued by the mint of the United States Government, which set includes one each of a cent, nickel, dime, quarter, and half-dollar, each of which coins is generally indicated at 9. The package 1 is composed of upper and lower sheets 1a and 1b of polyethylene coated cellophane which are sealed together around the peripheral border portions at 10 and which are provided with separated pockets 11 by cross sealed portions 12 and 13 extending longitudinally and transversely, respectively, of the package 1 and similar to the peripheral sealed border portions 10. One coin 9 of each denomination is contained in each pocket 11 of the package 1. In addition, a mint seal 14 is inserted in one of the pockets 11. The seal 14 serves the double purpose of filling one of the pockets of six pockets provided in the rectangular package and also indicates the particular mint issuing the set of coins involved. The United States Mints are currently located at Philadelphia and Denver.

The outer sheets 3 and 4 are preferably composed of transparent polystyrene plastic sheets which are preferably rectangular in shape. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the sheets 3 and 4 include flanges 15 and 16, respectively, extending around the border portion. When the outer sheets 3 and 4 are assembled they provide an inner compartment .117 in which the inner sheets 5 and 6 are disposed. The peripheral border flanges 15 and 16, which are of uniform dimensions, retain the inner sheets 5 and 6 snugly in place in the compartment 17 between the outer sheets.

The inner sheets 5 and 6 are of rectangular shape, having a length and width substantially equal to those of the compartment 17 formed by the outer sheets 3 and 4. The inner sheets 5 and 6 are preferably composed of cellulose acetate and may be transparent but are preferably opaque and are colored, such as white, 'black, maroon, etc. In addition, each sheet 5 and 6 is provided with a plurality of, preferably six, coin-receiving openings 18 aligned with the coins 9 and the mint seal 14 of the pack age 1 of coins. The openings 18 are of varying size. Inasmuch as the holder 2 is provided for holding a package 1 of coins contained within sheets 1a and 1b, the openings 18 are substantially larger than the coins in '3 order to accommodate the thicknesses of the cellophane comprising the package 1. As shown in FIG. 3, all portions of the package 1, except a portion containing each coin 9, are secured between the assembled inner sheets and 6 and are pressed compactly together when the holder is assembled by plastic nuts 7 and bolts 8.

Moreover, the inner sheets 5 and 6 have dimensions greater than the package 1 of coins so that the peripheral edge of the package is contained within the compartment 17. As shown in FIG. 3, the thickness of the compartment 17 is substantially equal to the combined thickness of the inner sheets 5 and 6 plus the thickness of the package 1 so that when the holder is assembled with the package 1 of coins contained therein, the mating surfaces of the flanges and 16 are in surface-to-surface contact with each other.

In order to fit the outer sheets 5 and 6 tightly together in perfect alignment to receive the nuts 7 and bolts 8, the outer sheets 3 and 4 are provided with interfitting tongues 19 and grooves 20, and tongues 19a and grooves 20a. The tongues 19 are provided preferably along one side and one end portion of one outer sheet 3 while the tongue 19a and groove 20a are disposed along the other side and end of the outer sheets 3 and 4. in addition to providing an exact fit for the assembly, the tongues 19 and 19a and grooves 20 and 20a provide an additional air-resistant fitting around the coins 9 contained in the holder.

Although the foregoing coin holder construction is described for a particular package 1 of coins, it is understood that more or less apertures may be provided in different arrangements to accommodate any other sets of coins which may be issued in a packaged form from time to time by the mint. The new and useful coin holder described herewith provides a rigid means for containing and viewing coins contained within mint packaged envelopes which to the coin holder represents a' desirable attribute for the coins. That is, the holder may be used to enclose the entire package of coins within the polyethylene coated cellophane envelope which together with the mint seal 14 is an indicium of authenticity which indicates that the packaged coins are the same coins that were placed in the package at the mint and therefore of uncirculated, untarnished condition.

In the foregoing description, certain terms have been used for brevity, clearness and understanding; but no unnecessary limitations are to be implied therefrom beyond the requirements of the prior art, because such terms are utilized for descriptive purposes herein and not for the purpose of limitation and are intended to be broadly construed.

Moreover, the description of the improvements is by way of example and the scope of the present invention is not limited to the exact details illustrated, or to the specific mechanisms shown.

Having now described the features, discoveries and principles of the invention, the construction, operation and use of the improved mechanisms and the advantageous, new and useful results obtained thereby; the new and useful parts, elements, constructions, mechanisms, combinations, subcombinations, and arrangements, and mechanical equivalents obvious to those skilled in the art, are set forth in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A coin display holder for a set of coins which are encased in separate pockets within an air-tight sealed package of pliable transparent material, the holder including an outer pair of rigid transparent sheets, an inner pair of sheets of rigid material, one inner sheet having coin-receiving openings spaced from each other and in alignment with corresponding openings in the other inner sheet, the assembled pair of inner sheets being disposed on opposite sides of a packaged set of coins and form.- ing a mask for the package between the spaced openings, and means for holding the inner and outer sheets together in rigid assembly with the encased coins disposed in the openings of the inner pair of sheets.

2. A coin display holder for sets of coins which are encased in separate pockets within an air-tight sealed package of pliable transparent material, the holder including a pair of outer transparent sheets, a pair of inner sheets having aligned coin-receiving openings of sizes greater than the size of the encased coin, the inner sheets forming masks retaining a coin in and between each pair of aligned coin-receiving openings, each coin being contained Within the sealed package within the aligned openings and which package is coextensive with each opening, and means for holding the set of coins together with each coin in a separate pair of aligned openings with a portion of the package between the pockets of coins being enclosed between the pair of inner sheets.

3. A coin display holder for a set of coins which are encased in separate pockets Within an air-tight package of pliable transparent material, the holder including a pair of outer transparent sheets, at least one of each sheets having a peripheral flange portion having a surface abuttable with a peripheral surface portion of the other outer sheet, the outer pair of sheets forming a compartment when assembled, a pair of inner sheets having aligned coin-receiving openings of a size greater than that of coins contained therein, the inner sheets forming masks covering the package between the openings and which package is coextensive with each opening, the assembled pair of inner sheets forming a mask for opposite sides of a package eneasing a set of coins, the assembled pair of inner sheets and package having a thickness substantially equal to and being disposed in the compartment formed by the pair of outer sheets, and means for holding the assembled sheets together.

4. A coin display holder for a set of coins which are encased in separate pockets within a sealed package of pliable transparent material, the holder including a pair of outer sheets and a pair of inner sheets, the outer sheets being larger than the pair of inner sheets and having peripheral border flange portions in abutment with each other and forming compartment means for receiving the pair of inner sheets, the inner sheets having a plurality of aligned spaced coin-receiving openings, the number of openings being equal to the number of coins in a package, the pair of inner sheets being placeable together on opposite sides of a package of a sheet of coins with each coin disposed in one pair of aligned openings, the pair of inner sheets forming a mask for a package containing a set of coins, and means'for holding the assembled sheets together with the flanged portions of the outer sheets in surface-to-surface abutment with each other.

5. The construction as set forth in claim 4 in which the abutting surfaces of the flange portions of the outer sheets are provided with tongue and groove means adjacent the sides and ends of the periphery of the holder.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,457,998 Hayes et a1. Jan. 4, 1949 2,672,977 Seitz Mar. 23, 1954 2,844,248 Tiberio July 22, 1958 

